


Invisible Man

by realfakedoors



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: "What happened to Nathaniel?", F/M, Missing Scene, One Shot, Spoilers for Zombizou
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-18
Updated: 2018-04-18
Packaged: 2019-04-24 17:48:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14360499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/realfakedoors/pseuds/realfakedoors
Summary: “I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me.” Ralph Ellison's,Invisible Man.Or, a very short one-shot of what happened to Nathaniel during Season 2, Episode 15 - Zombizou. Definitely contains spoilers.





	Invisible Man

**Author's Note:**

> I saw a bunch of people pointing out that Nathaniel disappeared shortly after the akuma attack began at the school, and I decided to write a quick one-shot of what I think happened. cute tomato boy!

“Wait, guys, something’s wrong.”

Shuffling after his classmates, Nathaniel scowled at the fact no one else had noticed, not even Alya.

 _Or Adrien_.

“Hey, guys?” He called quietly as they entered the hallway, but everyone was too swept up in their escape to listen.

Resigned, Nathaniel hurried behind Ivan and Mylene as they all whipped down the stairs, following Nino and Alya’s lead. Like whiplash, everyone stop moving at the sound of Sabrina collapsing on the stairs. He watched in horror as she threw herself on Chloe, trying to trail kisses all over her – thankfully, Adrien’s reflexes were in a better state, as he managed to drag the blonde away from Sabrina.

…who quickly proceeded to tackle Mylene, and kiss her instead. This plan was already off to a wonderful start, as Ivan then sacrificed himself to allow the rest of them to run off.

By Alya and Nino’s instructions, they re-routed their efforts to take refuge in the locker room. The school was quickly breaking into chaos, judging by the din of people shouting and running, quieting to a steady backbeat of “ _kissou_ ,” “ _kissou_ ,” _“kissou,_ ” the longer this went on.

His stomach churned uncomfortably, even moreso than a usual akuma attack.

For Nathaniel, it was just symptomatic of any of the romantically inclined possessions, like when Kim had been akumatized into Dark Cupid. Sure, _love_ was abstract and nebulous, and he wasn’t in much of a position to be throwing around judgments, but he could say with certainty any non-consensual romance sparked by an akuma felt extremely invasive and wrong.

Speaking of throwing around judgments, he heard a much nearer complaining and shouting. Chloe was pushing her way towards the front, ponytail swinging and lashing anyone who dared get in her way.

Nathaniel quietly shut the door to the locker room, glancing around the hallway a final time as the dozen or so of them clustered together. For some reason, they looked to Alya for answers, making her de facto leader.

That, Nathaniel thought, was a bit annoying.

It’s not like there wasn’t anything _wrong_ with Alya, but she wasn’t their real leader.

 _Marinette_ was their leader, and no one seemed concerned about the fact that she was gone.

“Ugh, I am _not_ getting in a locker,” Chloe remarked after the tan-skinned girl explained it was their best chance - and actually, he was rather inclined to agree. It’s not like they had many options.

“Suit yourself,” Nino shrugged and tipped his baseball hat at her while everyone began to shove aside books and jackets to squeeze into their narrow, vertical containers.

“Guys?” He said, clearing his throat as everyone scrambled to make themselves a cubby.

The red-haired boy pursed his lips, feeling even more uncomfortable by the way Juleka crossed her arms before leaning back into the metal box; it was like watching his classmates voluntary climb into coffins.

The irony of that, as they were running from kissing-zombies, was not lost on him.

“Er… guys?” He poked his head around, catching Alya’s eye as she helped to shut Nino in a locker. Barely an acknowledgement, she waved a dismissive hand: _go hide before it’s too late!_

“Has anyone seen Marinette?” He asked a little louder, now irritated. No one was listening to him, and soon it was just him and Chloe left standing in the middle of the quiet locker room, surrounded by their classmates, watching them.

“Who cares? We’re better off without her.” Chloe spat the words at him. Apparently, she had been the only one to actually listen.

Oddly, that thought made him smile. At least someone heard him.

Nathaniel walked up to the girl and placed a careful hand on her shoulder, and Chloe seemed so disconcerted by his touch that she just froze.

With a small smile, he nodded at her. “Thanks, Chloe.”

And then, in a totally backwards moment of every bullying stereotype he’s ever known, he shoved her into a locker. She screeched slightly as he slammed the door, but Nathaniel was already back in the hallway, edging around the now roaming zombie hoard quietly, making his way back to Mme. Bustier’s room. If Marinette had chosen to hide when the mess started, the first place she’d come back was the classroom to make sure everyone was safe; he would wait for her there, or get “zombified” himself.

The thought made him shudder, but she was worth it. She would come back for them, so Nathaniel made it a point to do the same for her.

 


End file.
